Plant functional diversity enhances associations of soil fungal diversity with vegetation and soil in the restoration of semiarid sandy grassland

Abstract

The trait‐based approach shows that plant functional diversity strongly affects ecosystem properties. However, few empirical studies show the relationship between soil fungal diversity and plant functional diversity in natural ecosystems. We investigated soil fungal diversity along a restoration gradient of sandy grassland (mobile dune, semifixed dune, fixed dune, and grassland) in Horqin Sand Land, northern China, using the denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis of 18S rRNA and gene sequencing. We also examined associations of soil fungal diversity with plant functional diversity reflected by the dominant species' traits in community (community‐weighted mean, CWM) and the dispersion of functional trait values (FD is). We further used the structure equation model (SEM) to evaluate how plant richness, biomass, functional diversity, and soil properties affect soil fungal diversity in sandy grassland restoration. Soil fungal richness in mobile dune and semifixed dune was markedly lower than those of fixed dune and grassland (P < 0.05). Soil fungal richness was positively associated with plant richness, biomass, CWM plant height, and soil gradient aggregated from the principal component analysis, but SEM results showed that plant richness and CWM plant height determined by soil properties were the main factors exerting direct effects. Soil gradient increased fungal richness through indirect effect on vegetation rather than direct effect. The negative indirect effect of FDis on soil fungal richness was through its effect on plant biomass. Our final SEM model based on plant functional diversity explained nearly 70% variances of soil fungal richness. Strong association of soil fungal richness with the dominant species in the community supported the mass ratio hypothesis. Our results clearly highlight the role of plant functional diversity in enhancing associations of soil fungal diversity with community structure and soil properties in sandy grassland ecosystems.

Groundwater Depth and Soil Properties Are Associated with Variation in Vegetation of a Desert Riparian Ecosystem in an Arid Area of China

“…Soil samples were air-dried and then passed through a 2-mm sieve. Soil pH and electrical conductivity (EC) were measured in 1:1 soil:water and 1:5 soil:water suspensions (Multiline F/SET-3, WTW, Weilheim, Germany), respectively [42]. Soil total carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) were measured using a C/H/N analyzer (Vario EL III, Elementar, Hanau, Germany) [43]; soil available phosphorus (P) was measured by the Olsen method, and soil available potassium (K) was obtained with 1 M ammonium acetate and measured by atomic absorption spectroscopy [44].…”

Distribution patterns of plant communities and their associations with environmental soil factors on the eastern shore of Lake Taihu, China

“…For example, soil microbes are considered to be a key determinant of the aboveground plant community (Zuo et al 2016). They do not distribute uniformly in the environment and their activity, abundance, and ecosystem functioning could vary across localities characterized by different pH, TP, Cond, SOM, and A-P.…”

“…So, understanding the current vegetation and the distribution patterns of plant communities can promote the succession of vegetation restoration. Vegetation acted as one of the most important factors in wetland ecosystems, and distribution patterns of plant communities strongly affected wetland ecosystem properties (Zelnik, Haler, and Gaberščik 2015;Hwang et al 2016;Zuo et al 2016). According to Zuo et al (2016), the recovery of vegetation succession can provide theoretical support for wetland restoration and health evaluation.…”

“…Vegetation acted as one of the most important factors in wetland ecosystems, and distribution patterns of plant communities strongly affected wetland ecosystem properties (Zelnik, Haler, and Gaberščik 2015;Hwang et al 2016;Zuo et al 2016). According to Zuo et al (2016), the recovery of vegetation succession can provide theoretical support for wetland restoration and health evaluation. Vegetation classification is the key step to choosing suitable plant species and formulating reasonable vegetation restoration measures.…”

Species’ traits as predictors of range shifts under contemporary climate change: A review and meta‐analysis

“…Although species’ functional traits have long been recognized as being both products and drivers of ecological processes (Stearns, ; Tilman, Wedin, & Knops, ), a renewed focus on trait diversity has grown in recent years (Gibert, Dell, DeLong, & Pawar, ). Ecological and life‐history traits shared by groups of organisms have been used to create frameworks for community assembly (Laughlin, Joshi, van Bodegom, Bastow, & Fulé, ) and nutrient cycling (Zuo et al., ), predict species and community responses to disturbance (Mouillot, Graham, Villéger, Mason, & Bellwood, ; Pellegrini, Franco, & Hoffmann, ; Pryde, Nimmo, Holland, & Watson, ), and evaluate ecosystem functions and services (Cardinale et al., ; Schmitz, Buchkowski, Burghardt, & Donihue, ). Species’ traits are also well‐known drivers of invasion ecology and range dynamics (Chuang & Peterson, ; Clark, ), making them promising candidates to explain species‐specific variation in range shifts under contemporary climate change (Estrada, Morales‐Castilla, Caplat, & Early, ).…”